# Reported questions keep their word order in Vietnamese

> To report a question, or to say you don't know something, put the question after hỏi (ask) or không biết (don't know) exactly as it was asked.

Source: https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/embedded-question-order/ · Updated 2026-10-17

**indirect questions**

Pattern: `[person] + hỏi / không biết + [question as asked]`

Level: B1 (our estimate) · Register: everyday

To report a question, or to say you don't know something, put the question after *hỏi* (ask) or *không biết* (don't know) exactly as it was asked. Nothing moves: *Nhà vệ sinh ở đâu?* Where's the toilet? becomes *Em không biết nhà vệ sinh ở đâu.* I don't know where the toilet is.

English changes the order ("where is it" becomes "where it is"); Vietnamese doesn't. The question word stays where the answer would go, just as in the question itself. This works with every question word, and with verbs like *nhớ* (remember) and *muốn biết* (want to know): *Em không nhớ chị ấy tên gì.* I can't remember what her name is.

Only the people change, as in English: *Con đi đâu?* Where are you going? becomes *Mẹ hỏi em đi đâu.* Mum asked where I was going.

When you ask whether someone knows, *không* goes at the very end: *Anh biết mấy giờ quán đóng cửa không?* Do you know what time the place closes? A reported yes/no question works differently: *có … không* goes inside it, never *nếu*.

## A common mistake

✗ Em không biết ở đâu nhà vệ sinh.

✓ Em không biết nhà vệ sinh ở đâu.

*Ở đâu* stays at the end, where it is in the question *Nhà vệ sinh ở đâu?* Don't move it forward the way English moves "where".

## Examples

- Em không biết nhà vệ sinh ở đâu. — I don't know where the toilet is.
- Anh biết mấy giờ quán đóng cửa không? — Do you know what time the place closes?
- Mẹ hỏi em đi đâu. — Mum asked where I was going.
- Em không nhớ chị ấy tên gì. — I can't remember what her name is.

## Compare

- [Whether: có … không inside a sentence, never nếu](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/whether-co-khong/): whether

Previous in Asking questions: [Really? … sao at the end](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/sao-surprise-tag/)
Next in Asking questions: [Surely not? chẳng lẽ / lẽ nào](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/chang-le-surely-not/)

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